Tied Cherry Stems
by A Vampires Butterfly
Summary: Are you saying you don't know what being able to tie stems with your tongue means, Yagami-kun? -yaoi-


Crunch.

Suck.

Half a minute of silence.

Pop.

And then it would start all over again.

Raito was ready to scream.

They had been sitting there for hours. At first it had just been a normal night. No sleeping, no interruptions, everyone had seemed to have fallen asleep or gone home.

But then L had gotten hungry. And he had needed something sweet, of course. Raito had just expected him to get his normal cake with a strawberry on top, something that the detective ate silently. But no, he hadn't felt like cake. So then the next assumption was ice cream or donuts. But nope, he hadn't felt like that either. He had felt like…

Cherries.

The evilest fruit of all, in Raito's opinion.

At first it hadn't really bothered him. He had just kept typing away, trying to find more leads as always. But soon he could only hear the noises made by that mouth and those damn cherries. He had it down to a schedule now.

First, L would pop the whole thing in his mouth.

Then, he would bite it in half; remove the pit with his tongue, making sucking noises, before taking it between two fingers and putting it in the quickly growing pile.

He would finish off the fruit quietly and it seemed as if it was all over, but he would swallow it and keep the stem in his mouth.

He would spend less then a minute tying the stem in a tight knot and with a little pop would deposit that in another quickly growing pile.

Raito didn't know whether to be impressed or disgusted. So instead he just glared when he mistyped the same word for the fifth freaking time due to someone's disturbing eating habits.

"Is there a problem, Yagami-kun?"

Another freaking cherry was popped in.

"Yes. Is there anyway you could eat those silently?" Raito asked between gritted teeth, trying to control his anger. No reason to make a bad impression. Who knew what might make the detective suspect him of being Kira?

"I don't know what you mean, Yagami-kun."

A small crunch to show the pit had been found.

"Yes, you do." Raito insisted, not even wanting to begin with the innocent act.

"Hm….No, I'm sure I don't."

A tiny clatter of the pit being dropped into a pile on the hard desk surface.

Raito's glare intensified and he resisted the urge to punch the so called genius's face in.

"Can't you eat something besides those cherries?" He suggested, gesturing to the large crystal bowl now only half way filled with the damn things.

L looked thoughtful for a moment, thumb resting on his bottom lip, even as he ate the remainder of the cherry and started to tie the stem with his tongue.

"No, I still need practice." L replied after letting yet another tied cherry stem slip past red juice stained lips, placing it carefully in the pile next to the pits.

"Practice for what? What could you possibly be practicing by eating cherries!?" Raito asked rather loudly. He was very tired, and just wanted to finish his work and convince L to go to bed.

L looked at him with one of his classic, 'Are you seriously questioning my greatness and brilliance?' looks, which he usually saved for Matsuda. Raito met his stare easily with one of his own, saying, really the same thing.

"Yagami-kun, are you telling me you have never heard of what being able to tie a cherry stem means?" L asked in an exasperated tone, as if he were the one being kept from a good night's rest!

Raito kept his glare, refusing to let curiosity get the best of him. He would not fall for it! No, he was better than this. He would not ask. He would not ask. He did not want to know. He. Would. Not. Ask.

"What does it mean?"

Damn it!

L made a little sighing noise and Raito glared more, maybe, though he would never admit it, pouting a tiny bit. He did not like being talked to like an idiot.

"Really, you being a teenager and so popular, I really thought of all people you would know what it means." L went on, shaking his head slightly, as if he pitied him!

"Will you just tell me and let me get on with my work?" Raito asked, nearing the end of his string, the last straw, the last baseball bat used to break a window with, whatever stupid saying you wanted to use to explain he was getting ready to explode.

"Fine, fine, Yagami-kun. No need to get angry." L said, holding his hand up in defense. Light ran a hand through his hair in an effort to resist clenching his fists.

"Please, just get on with it." He said tiredly, not sure if it was even worth it, this apparent piece of information he was supposed to know. It didn't have anything to do with Kira, so why should it matter at all?

"Well, there is a saying that goes if a person can tie a cherry stem using only their tongue then they are an excellent kisser." L said before popping another cherry into his mouth. This time Raito didn't even notice, too busy trying to stop the twitch in his eye.

The idea was absurd. There was no way you could tell if someone was a good kisser or not by whether or not they could tie a stupid piece of fruit's stem in a knot with their tongue.

Right?

No, it wasn't possible because that would mean….Raito looked at the large pile of tied cherry stems, even as L added yet another on to the top. No, it couldn't be possible.

He laughed, using his good natured, absolutely fake laugh that he used with Misa and every other idiot that he used to know at school and everywhere else.

"Ah, good one Ryuzaki. Now, if you could stop eating those and let me finish my work, I would like to get to bed soon." He said, trying to be civil. This was nonsense and he was in no mood for nonsense.

"I will only stop eating these cherries when I can be sure whether or not the saying is true." L said, eating another cherry to make his point made.

Raito returned this comment with his glare. If he were Kira, L would have been dead long before their conversation could have gotten this far. Maybe he could reason his way into a peaceful sleep.

"But that isn't reasonable, Ryuzaki. How can you be sure of whether or not you are a good kisser if you just keep tying them up? If that doesn't prove it to you, nothing will. If the saying is true, then you are the best kisser around, so you can stop eating them." Raito concluded, seeing this as a flawless argument, though he knew the saying was utter nonsense. One look at L's wardrobe told anybody if he was a good kisser or not.

Not that Raito had ever wondered or anything.

"Best kisser around, Yagami-kun? Better than even you?" L asked, looking at the ceiling, putting another tied cherry stem on the pile, replacing it with his thumb.

Raito bristled at the comment. If that wasn't the stupidest thing he had ever heard in his whole life! L being a better kisser than him! As if. No, if all the girls he had gone out with and their comments about his kissing skills were anything to go on, then there was no way L could be better. Had L ever even kissed a girl before? Or anyone for that matter? Raito doubted it. Which made him the winner. Therefore he must be the better kisser. He had more experience, making him better than L. Whether or not he could tie a cherry stem with his tongue or not.

Then again…what could it really hurt to….make sure?

Raito scowled at L, who didn't even seem to notice, and took one of the dark red cherries from the bowl, glaring at it before popping it into his mouth.

He ate around the pit, carefully placing the stem in his cheek before taking the pit out, putting it next to L's pile.

He then finished off the rest of the cherry, finding it to be a bit tart.

He shot L a challenging look before moving the stem to the middle of his mouth.

He began to twist and turn his tongue around the damn thing, finding it hard to bend into shape, even harder to pull into the tight little knot he had seen L do so many times with perfect ease.

L was watching him now, large eyes looking at him without expression. But Raito was sure he saw amusement somewhere in those dark pupils. He was most likely imagining this, but that didn't matter. L thought he was better than him! Just because he couldn't tie some stupid piece of some stupid fruit!

He almost had it. So close. Just a pull here. A twist there. He smirked slightly as he was about to pull the last knot with his tongue when the stem….broke. His eye began to twitch again as he picked out the slimly, broken, pieces of cherry stem out of his mouth.

He glared down it until he heard something that sounded suspiciously like laughter from the chair next to him. His head snapped to glare at L who was laughing behind his hands.

"It doesn't mean anything. I'm still a better kisser than you." He said defensively, sniffing and crossing his arms over his chest, turning back towards his computer screen. He didn't care if he was acting a bit childishly; his pride was being hurt and Raito with a hurt pride was like…was like…was like giving Kira the key to a prison and a year supply of pens! Very bad and very dangerous.

"Of course, Yagami-kun. It doesn't mean anything." L didn't even try to hide the remaining laughter in his voice. Raito tensed at the teasing tone. Another hit to his precious, precious pride.

"That's it! How can I prove to you that this saying total nonsense?!" Raito said, raising his fist to his side, before carefully lowing it.

'Breathe, Raito. Breathe. He is doing this on purpose. Probably another one of his tests.' He thought, taking a couple deep breaths.

He looked back over at L who, to anyone who didn't know him, was perfectly expressionless, but to people who were, oh lets say, chained to him 24/7, knew that he was amused and enjoying himself. Which he was. Immensely.

L put his thumb in his mouth and looked at Raito carefully, thoughtfully, examining him, as if measuring him up for something. Raito did not enjoy this, but refused to show his discomfort, still glaring at the detective.

L moved his thumb to the other side of his mouth, wiggling his toes a bit before looking Raito straight in the eyes.

"Well we could always kiss to see who is better, Yagami-kun." He stated oh so professionally, like it was perfectly normal to be talking about such a thing with your prime suspect.

Raito refused to show his surprised. He refused to show how much this simple sentence affected him. He refused to show how much he wanted to test whether L would taste like cherries, strawberries, or plain sugar. He refused. He refused. He. Refused.

"A simple kiss. No cameras. And Misa never finds out. Is that clear?" He couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Crystal clear, Yagami-kun."

They both stared at each other, Raito trying not to look too awkward, L trying not to look like he had planned it all. They slowly started to move closer, eyes not moving from the other's stare. Soon they were hovering just breath away. Light was starting to over think things. He was starting to regret ever wanting to go to bed. He was starting to become too nervous.

'Damn it! I am Raito Yagami! And I will not back down from this! I will kiss the living daylights out of L and prove that I am the best at everything! I will not lose!' This little pep talk in his helped and he gained a determined look before clearing the same between them, pushing their lips together.

It started out simple, really just their lips mashed together, but then L started to move his lips against Raito's and, not wanting to be beaten now, Raito moved back, pressing a bit harder, tilting his head slightly to the left. They never broke eye contact, even as Raito felt a tongue lick at his lower lip. Even as said lower lip was nibbled at until he opened his mouth. Even as L's tongue started to explore his mouth. Even as they started to fight for dominance, pushing and twisting against each other.

Nope, they never broke eye contact.

Even as they broke away for air, both gasping and panting.

'He does taste like sugar…'

'My plan has finally worked! But why does he taste like apples….?'

"I think I won that, Yagami-kun. You have to admit now that I am a better kisser."

"What? I was obviously the one doing all the work in that kiss."

"Now I am 45 percent sure you are Kira."

"Why?!"

"Because Kira would obviously never admit that I am right."

"But you aren't right! I am obviously the better kisser."

"55 percent."

"Stop that!"

"65 percent."

"Just because I don't think your right, doesn't mean I'm Kira!"

"85 per-"

L was cut off as Raito once again began to prove that he was the better kisser.

Raito did not get a very good night's rest that night and when the team came back the next morning, all that could be found in the place of the two boys was a pile of tied cherry stems and one broken one.


End file.
